By Sara Holt

Photo Credit: ORGANIC architectureFor this month's theme in sustainability, UAS contacted some crucial Bay Area players to get different perspectives on Ecologoical Design and Zero Waste and how we can incorporate these concepts into our lives. The result? UAS found that ecological design is as much about the Cradle-to-Cradle approach as it is about starting out local.

The Bay Area Perspectives:
*Eric Corey Freed, ORGANICarchitect: Reframing the discussion on ecological design with a Cradle-to-Cradle approach

*Diane Loviglio, SPUR Green Roof Task Force Co-Chair: Offering solutions at the local level

 

UAS: What is ecological design?

Eric Corey Freed: To answer this question, we should look at how the buildings of the world consume:

40% of the world's energy & materials

25% of the wood harvested

17% of our water

 

The average American house uses:

13,127 board feet of lumber

6,212 square feet of sheathing

2,000 square feet of flooring

 

In the US, buildings account for:

36% of total electricity consumption

62% of electricity use

30% of greenhouse gas emissions

37% of ozone depletion potential.

And, ironically enough, most of us spend 80% of our time indoors.

Our way of life is killing us. Our buildings consume over 40% of our energy and resources and their use represents 70% of our total consumption. The environmental damage caused in the last hundred years is a direct result from how our buildings are built. Architects, designers, and all building professionals are in a position to affect great change on our environment, more so than any other group, since our buildings are responsible for most of the damage.

“Green Building” (also known as “Sustainable,” “Ecological,” and “Eco” Design) is a way of looking at buildings in terms of reducing energy use, conserving water, improving indoor air quality, and reducing dependence on our natural resources.

Although the basic concepts for green building have been around for decades, it has only been in the last few years that we have seen this explosive growth in the greening of the construction industry. Once only of interest to hard-core environmentalists, the rise in energy prices, our dependence on fossil fuel and growing concerns over the damage done to our planet has boosted green building into the spotlight of mainstream interest.

Today, those in the business of designing and constructing buildings are faced with the new challenge of environmental responsibility. The rise in energy costs, shortage of building materials and growing consumer demands are driving this market to seek out better and more efficient ways to build our buildings.

In addition, new legislation, stricter building codes, and rising health costs are forcing builders to build green whether they want to or not. Research has shown that although an overwhelming majority of designers feel a responsibility to offer green building solutions, only a fraction of them do so. They blame this discrepancy on a “lack of information.”

More important than any statistic however, is the good feeling you have when you know you've done what's right for both your family and your community. Promoting continued health, financial savings, and social responsibility, Green Building is the construction standard for the future, and the smart solution for today.

Diane Loviglio: Eco design is about creating solutions that are inspired by ecology or the natural world. I designed and built an 800 square foot solar powered home with sustainable building materials and techniques to make a lesser footprint than a traditional home, and I also designed a 4,100 square foot living roof to manage storm water in a city that is dealing with combined sewage overflow.

UAS: How do you think we can incorporate ecological design more into our lives?

ECF: We need to start asking the right questions, and re-framing the discussion. Instead of looking at green building as an add-on, and therefore something that could be just as easily taken away; we need to look at green building as an integrated and essential part of the entire design process. For everything we put into the building we ask:

1. Where did this material come from?

2. What are the by-products of its' manufacturer?

3. How is the material delivered and installed? 4. How is the material maintained & operated? 5. How healthy are the materials?

6. What do we do with them once we are done with these materials?

Then we can find ways to mitigate the impact of what we put into the building.

DL: By creatively thinking how we can turn our waste into other people's or other creatures' food. One place to start is by asking yourself "Can I or someone near me use these materials/thoughts/ideas before I retire them?"

UAS: Similarly, what is zero-waste design and do you have any experience with it?

ECF: As the name implies, zero-waste design is an approach to creating zero waste in the construction process. This can be done with careful planning and choice of construction materials.

The real obstacle we face is that we are still stuck on trying to be "less bad." By recycling materials not designed to be recycled, and reducing the use of still toxic materials, we are not solving the real problem. What we need is a radical overhaul of how we design our materials and move to a Cradle-to-Cradle approach, where we design the way nature does.

DL: I'm not quite sure any design is fully zero waste yet. The closest I've come is in my furniture designs in which I use cardboard as the structural element.

UAS: Do you see ecological design as revolutionizing the way we understand ourselves in our environments? Where do you see it evolving from here?

ECF: Just as the Industrial Revolution brought us an innate understanding of the rest of the world, the sustainability revolution will bring us understanding of the systems of nature. Elementary school kids will have a better understanding of the greenhouse cycle than we do today (the same way they understand the planetary system well beyond what their grandparents knew at that age.)

The next stage is for us to stop talking about it and get into the doing of it. We need ambitious plans for how to move towards our sustainable future.